MEDAC TO ASSIST MICRO, INFORMAL BUSINESSES TO MIGRATE TO E-COMMERCE

KUCHING, May 11 -- The Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperative (MEDAC) will assist micro and informal businesses to migrate to e-commerce to help them in facing the third Movement Control Order (MCO 3.0), said its minister, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

He said the ministry and its agencies provide holistic, hand-holding assistance for entrepreneurs; from micro-financing, training, coaching, management skills right to business networking. 

“We understand the difficulties faced by the small businesses and are prepared to assist to digitalise their business,” he said.

The Santubong member of Parliament said this after handing over donations totalling RM63,400 to 327 asnaf recipients from Tanjong Dato, Pantai Damai and Demak Laut.

The minister said after having gone through several rounds of lockdown, entrepreneurs should realise by now that going digital is vital to ensure that their operations would be able to withstand challenges in the post-COVID-19 era.

He said those who resist digitalisation would suffer as a rising number of consumers prefer to shop online, citing a recent survey conducted by MEDAC which showed that 57.74 per cent of consumers preferred to shop online after MCO 2.0, compared to only 19.24 per cent previously.

“It is important for businesses to repackage their entire products and services so that they can be marketed online.

“They also need to look into ways to enhance their online presence so that customers can easily find them on the internet,” said Wan Junaidi.

On MCO 3.0, the minister called on Malaysians to do their part to help curb the spread of the pandemic by strictly adhering to the standard operating procedures and registering for the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme.

On Monday, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced the nationwide enforcement of MCO 3.0  from May 12 to June 7 to address the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

-- BERNAMA